Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, the New England Patriots wide receiver, is feeling mighty generous—or mighty lonely—because he just Tweeted, "Dinner in NY tonight -- 1st 200 people at Sylvia's Restaurant by 7 pm in Harlem. Leave ya money/credit cards at home. I got you this time." more ›

Yes, Torrisi Italian Specialities is an idiosyncratic oasis of Italian food in a sea of sameness. And yes, their prix-fixe dinner is worth ditching work at 4 p.m. to get your name on the list. But sometimes you don't need a culinary tour-du-force as much as a mozzarella bear hug. Parm, the new venture from the owners of Torrisi (it's right next door) serves Italian soul food good enough to forsake Sunday family dinner for. more ›

Chef Carl Redding, who made a name for himself in Harlem with his soul food restaurant Amy Ruth’s, is so disgusted that the International House of Pancakes is serving Chicken and Waffles that he's planning a protest outside an IHOP in New Jersey. One unforeseen side-effect of Redding's activism? Free publicity! Today the Daily News profiles Redding and his IHOPposition—he calls the chain's Chicken and Waffles dish "soul food without the soul. It's nothing like the way we know it in our community. If you're going to appropriate a dish we treasure, at least get it right." Daaamn, the International House of PAIN is in effect! more ›

The Pink Tea Cup, a West Village institution beloved for its greasy ribs, pork chops, sweet potatoes and biscuits, will close January 3rd! The soul-food restaurant opened in 1957 and relocated to its current Grove Street home in 1982. An employee tells Grub Street that a rent increase is pushing it out of the neighborhood, and they're trying to find another location. Though the soul's still warm, Eater notices that a new entity is already applying for a liquor license at a Community Board 2 meeting tonight. Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and the Post's Liz Smith have patronized the place, started by Florida native Mary Raye to serve soul food "made from the heart with sprinkles of love all over." more ›

Harlem's M&G Diner—the “Old Fashion’ But Good!” soul food spot on 125th—closed for summer vacation earlier this year, and never reopened. Elsewhere, Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen racked up a significant amount of critical violation points in an inspection last month. The restaurant closed to correct them, but hasn’t reopened since and disconnected their phone. “The current economic downturn seems to be hitting Harlem businesses particularly hard,” notes City Room. “On some blocks of Frederick Douglass Boulevard, closed storefronts outnumber businesses that remain open.” more ›

About once a year or so Gothamist makes a pilgrimage to Bensonhurst’s 18th Avenue for some Sicilian soul food. A little over 15 years ago, 18th Avenue between Bay Ridge Parkway and McDonald Avenue was dubbed "Cristoforo Colombo Boulevard." While that entire length may have been named in honor of the Italian explorer, the stretch where we usually explore the wonders of Southern Italian food lies between between Bay Ridge Parkway and 65 Street. more ›

Santa came early and dumped some carnivorous coal down the throats of vegetarians in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood this weekend. The NY Press has reported that the beloved Veggie Castle – so named because it was converted from an old White Castle fast food restaurant – has abruptly closed. The Veggie Castle was as famous for repurposing the White Castle as it was for its vegetarian twist on Caribbean classics, offering such delicacies as jerk tofu, curried tofu and a steaming vegan soul food buffet. more ›

FR.OG and P*Ong, two perfectly good Manhattan restaurants that opened earlier this year, have names that independently invoke two classic arcade video games, Frogger and Pong. Now, as the fall openings season draws to a close and the votes for worst new restaurant name have been cast, we’d like to draw your attention to the most incredibly iconic new restaurant name in New York: It's that of Roclantic Eatery, a soul food and oil drum “Bar-B-Que” place that opened just two weeks ago on the corner of Atlantic and Rockaway Avenue in East New York, coincidentally enough. Kind of rolls off the tongue. With a purple-painted exterior and booming, shadowed, all-caps signage, Roclantic’s owners have come up with a restaurant name so unique that as of right now, it doesn’t even return a single Google hit. more ›

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. more ›

Bill O'Reilly continued to claim that he wasn't being racist when expressing his surprise that a dinner at Harlem soul food restaurant Sylvia's was extremely pleasant. Media watchdog group Media Matters distributed text and clips of O'Reilly's radio show where the conservative talking head explained, "I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship." more ›

Bill O'Reilly is making people wonder "Oh, really?" after the conservative talk show host shared some thoughts about famous Harlem soul food restaurant Sylvia's. O'Reilly told radio listeners that he treated the Reverend Al Sharpton (because Sharpton frequently appears on The O'Reilly Factor) to dinner at Sylvia's the other night. He said he had a great time, but couldn't leave it at that, noting "all the people up there are tremendously respectful." And then:

I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship. more ›

On the hunt for a lunch/brunch spot whose griddle cook we don’t know by name, Gothamist headed to the newish Cheryl’s Global Soul, a cozy little eatery from Food Network personality Cheryl Smith (of Soul Kitchen). more ›

Just steps from the interminable reconstruction of the BQE’s Roosevelt Avenue exit, and under the round-the-clock clatter of subway tracks, is Zabb Queens, an Isaan Thai restaurant. Isaan cuisine is soul food from the northeastern region of Thailand, and while the clichéd “hot-sour-salty-sweet” plate-view applies, it would be something bordering criminal to talk about Zabb Queens as such. more ›

Whether you're ready or not, the holidays are fast approaching. Thanksgiving is just around the corner with Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa just a hop, skip and a jump behind. For many of us that brings happy thoughts of turkey, bourbon and pie but for others, it brings anxiety about all those gifts we have to buy. Now, save the “It’s not about the gift, but rather being with the people you love” speech. Whether we like it or not, if we don’t give the super who took three weeks to fix our garbage disposal a present, we better forget about getting that clogged drain snaked. So, we are going to tighten our belts (at least until the pie comes, then nothing but elastic) and spend the next two months dining BYOB (bring your own bottle). more ›

As any serious drinker knows, a long night of boozing is best ended with a heaping helping of carbohydrates. One good place to get your fill is the East Village deli called Punjab, which stays open into the wee hours to serve its clientele of Pakistani cabbies. But late-night Lower East Side revelers have also discovered the cheap vegetarian chow. There are potatoes over rice, potatoes wrapped in bread (roti, $2.50), potato patties (aloo tikki, $.75), or potatoes encased in fried dough (samosa, $.75). The samosas make for an ideal snack (chaat) anytime. A crisp, delectably greasy, well-browned crust wraps chunks of potatoes and green peas. Like everything at Punjab, it’s suffused with just the right amount of heat. Right after you’ve wolfed down the last bite, a slow burn creeps up, just this side of painful. more ›

Neo Soul provides healthy preparations of soul food favorites. Craving fried chicken? Williams’ recipe calls for crushed Special K for that extra crunch, but the frying is done in the oven instead of in oil. Country-style greens replace the pork with smoked turkey wings for a similar smoky flavor. And never fear, the mac and cheese is still there, but skim milk cuts down the calories (the carbs are still there), and the dessert section contains lighter versions of sweet potato pie, pecan pie, and red velvet cake. Neo Soul retails for $21.95. more ›

The blog Muckracked noticed that the old space where the restaurant Hue used to be was taken over as a restaurant movie set for the Scott Hicks-directed adaptation of the German film, Mostly Martha. Gothamist loved Mostly Martha (uptight German chef becomes guardian of surly niece while dealing with maverick Italian chef at her work), so we've been following news of the adaptation for a while (at one point, Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan had rights to remake the movie). Anyway, the new version will star Catherine Zeta-Jones, as a chef at "22 Bleecker," and we can only imagine that Aaron Eckhart is the new, unconventional chef who melts her heart. Zeta-Jones actually went undercover at Fiamma as a waitress and even garnished dishes to prep for the role, so we expect some gorgeous food photography (Hicks did direct Snow Falling on Cedars, which was lovely to look at, if a terrible movie). more ›

- The Times adds to the Super Bowl's gourmet gluttony with black bean and chorizo subs, chipotle meatballs and cowboy beans from Rick Bayless the Fatty Crab's pork belly tea sandwiches. more ›

The weather is heating up in the city and that really means one thing…time to pop some corks. This week the city is hopping with spicy, tangy, mouth watering goodness… more ›

While Gothamist loves to try all the new restaurants that seem to open on an hourly basis throughout the isle of Manhattan, we're also keen on discovering places that may be new to us but have inhabited NYC for decades. Especially at this time of year, with the stress of holiday preparations and the first major dip in temperatures, Gothamist longs for the type of restaurant experience that reminds of us of the home-style food that we grew up eating (or wished we did). more ›

Yo, Blacken This!: Hell's Kitchen Meets the French Quarter at the Delta Grill, by M.B. Roberts (Willow Creek, 1999). more ›

Gothamist literally stumbled into Raga a few weeks ago after a long night drinking and met Mr. Tony, a very friendly co-owner of the restaurant and the mastermind behind Mr. Tony's International Soul Kitchen. more ›

It's encouraging to know that restaurants' efforts in objectifying women servers can go beyond Hooters type outfits and filter into even more culturally specific stereotypes. Case is point: Nightclub Lotus, which has just opened, Suzie Wong's Late Night Cafe, a reference to the movie, The World of Suzie Wong. The film is about a Caucasian artist and a Chinese prostitute, and the term "Suzie Wong" is a notorious negative stereotype - the subservient, demure, Asian whore (not unlike the white or any other color whore, but given that this was one of the first movies to star an Asian as an Asian, unlike Luise Rainier playing Chinese in The Good Earth, Suzie Wong is a turning point of sorts). Gothamist doesn't really have an issue with waitresses wearing cheongsams, but to call it Suzie Wong's Late Night Cafe... Lotus may say it's aiming for camp appeal, but then does that mean a soul food restaurant with waiters doing a Stepin Fetchit routine will be in the works, 'cause that'd be so campy. more ›